The NBA made a massive announcement ahead of the second-round slate of games on Monday night.
Ahead of Game 1 between the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, the NBA announced the 2024-25 NBA Coach of the Year.
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Kenny Atkinson of the Cleveland Cavaliers was named the winner of the award over J.B. Bickerstaff of the Detroit Pistons and Ime Udoka of the Houston Rockets.
Of course, Atkinson led the Cavaliers to the top record in the Eastern Conference this season, but many fans are upset with the voters’ decisions to vote him as the Coach of the Year.
Instead, many believed that Bickerstaff of the Pistons should have won the award and they took to social media to express their frustration with the voters.
“Absolute and complete disgrace that JB Bickerstaff didn’t win Coach of the Year,” one fan posted on X after Monday’s announcement.
“JB Bickerstaff was robbed,” another fan wrote on X.
“Bickerstaff took a team that won 14 games a year ago and got them to the 6 seed but sure give it to the guy that inherited a team that was just in the semifinals a year ago lmao,” another fan posted on X.
“The Detroit Pistons were the first team in the history of the NBA to TRIPLE their win total from the season prior,” another fan posted on X. “He (Bickerstaff) NO DOUBT has the best coaching performance in the NBA this season, absolute robbery.”
Many other fans voiced their displeasure about the final tally for the Coach of the Year vote and they do all make a point.
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Bickerstaff was fired by the Cavaliers in the offseason and was then hired to try and turn around a struggling Pistons team that finished with the NBA’s worst record in each of the last two seasons.
Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
That is exactly what he was able to do as the Pistons finished with a 44-38 record and made the playoffs for the first time since 2018-19.
While Bickerstaff did not win the award, he will always be remembered for turning Detroit’s franchise around and they will now look to better their roster in the offseason.